Nightmares Aren't Real
by Michelle-And-The-Beatle
Summary: Raphael had a scary nightmare. He woke up shaking and... Well, I'll let you see what happens. Please Enjoy!


_It was very quiet. Raph was breathing heavily, cautiously looking around him, holding each sai blade in his hands. His face was moist with sweat, and his heart was racing from being nervous. _

_"Donnie!" Raph called out. It was completely dark, and the turtle couldn't see a thing. _

_Suddenly, in a quick flash of light, on the floor in front of Raphael was a figure. It was a turtle like himself, but it had a purple bandana. Donatello lay motionless on the floor, facedown. His head was surrounded in a pool of blood. _

_Raphael gasped and quickly backed up. He shook his head to get that image out of his head, and to make himself believe that it wasn't real. _

The red-masked ninja turtle tossed in his bed, grumbling something in his sleep.

_Raphael turned around, he was more nervous than before. He wouldn't believe that Donatello was dead. He wouldn't. _

_Something knocked into him, and Raph stumbled to the left. He blinked his eyes, and something happened before him. He saw someone or something attacking Michelangelo. Raphael screamed and swung his said through the air, but he couldn't help. He could just stand there and watch. _

_Raphael watched his youngest brother get taken out by a knife through his plastron and into his heart. Mikey fell to the floor, dead. Lifeless. _

_Again, Raphael gasped and dropped his said in shock. He clutched his face in his hands, trembling. This could not be happening. _

Raphael turned in his bed again. He squeezed his eyes shut tighter, trying to make this horrible nightmare stop. Nothing helped.

_Raph was now running, sprinting. He didn't know or care where he was going. He just wanted to get away. He couldn't just watch two of his brother's die, and do nothing about it! Raphael began panting, and his eyes started to burn. This couldn't be real. _

_Something tripped him, and Raph fell to the ground, face first. The ground was wet and hard. That gave him a clue as to where he was. In the sewers. _

_Raphael was dazed by the fall, and he didn't know what happened. But as he started getting on all fours, he opened his eyes and screamed in fear when he saw what was lying on the floor in front of him. It was Leo. Raph dragged himself away from him._

_Still, he observed the carcass of his eldest brother. Leonardo was lying on his back, eyes open, not breathing. _

_Raphael started to break down. He began crying as he crawled forward to lean over his brother's body. When he sat back up strait, he saw that his hands were covered in blood. But it wasn't his. It was Leonardo's. _

_The turtles' leader was cut open down the middle of his chest and stomach. A strait line. Blood was oozing out of this gigantic wound. _

_Raphael was repeating his brother's name, mourning him. His hot tears were falling onto the cold body of Leo. _

_Raph lifted his brother's head in one of his hands gently. He hugged him, and cradled Leo close to himself. _

_"I'm sorry, Leo. I'm so sorry. Leo, Leo, Leo..." Raphael kept saying. He gasped and cried some more. _

_Raphael, at one point, looked at his brother's face. His eyes were still open, but empty. No emotion. There was a trickle of blood down one side of Leo's mouth. Raph shut the eyelids of both of Leo's eyes and continued to cry. _

_"Leo. I-I'm sorry... Leo! No, no, no. Leo! LEO!"_

"LEO!" Raphael sat up in his bed and screamed at the top of his lungs. His face and pillow were soaked in tears. Raph sobbed into his hands, back hunched over.

"Raph! Are you okay?" the familiar voice of Leonardo answered Raph's cries. He gasped and his eyes went wide when he saw his brother.

"Raph?" now his voice was filled with concern. Leonardo ran to Raphael's bed and sat next to him.

Before he could say anything else, he was knocked onto his back by Raph. The red-masked turtle was hugging Leo as if his life depended on it. He was still crying and moaning like mad, and Raphael's eyes were shut tight.

Leo was very taken aback by this action. Raph never hugged anyone, not even Master Splinter. But Leonardo hugged his back, comfortingly, which was kind of hard to do since he was on his back on Raph's bed. He squeezed Raphael tightly, telling him that he wasn't alone.

"It's okay, Raph. I'm here. Calm down, calm down. Just breathe," Leonardo rubbed Raphael's shell.

Raph was shaking violently, tears still rolling down his cheeks. He hugged Leo even harder, and the leader was having a hard time breathing.

"R-Raph, you'll be okay. Tell me what's going on."

Raphael loosened his grip on his brother slightly, and started sniffling. He slowly opened his eyes, but his bison was blurred by tears. Raphael blinked a couple of times before he could see where he was and what was around him, he just realized now that he was hugging Leo.

"Raph, look at me," Leo gently took his brother's face in his hands and tilted it upward so he was looking at him. Raph's cheeks were stained with tears, and his eyes were still watery.

"What happened?" Leo asked. Raphael felt his eyes burn again, remembering the nightmare.

"Nuthin'."

Leo scoffed. He couldn't believe how stubborn his younger brother could be at times, even after crying like a lunatic.

"Yeah, sure, Raph. Now, what really happened? I'm scared."

"I said nothin'."

"Why we're you just crying and... hugging me?"

Raph immediately let go of his older brother. He sat up straight and began drying his tears. Leo slowly sat upright, too.

"You were calling my name."

"No, I wasn't. You were just hearing things."

"Raph, please. I'm trying to help you. If you don't tell me, I won't be able to know what's wrong."

Raphael folded his arms across his chest. He refused to look at Leo, after he felt that he was embarrassed. He didn't mean to cry in front of him. And Raph _did_remember screaming Leo's name repeatedly. Then he remembered the worst parts of his dream. Donnie. Mikey. Leo...

Raphael closed his eyes again, and hid his face in his hands. He felt more tears escape his shut eyelids.

Leo grew very nervous for his younger brother. He rubbed Raph's arm gently.

"St-Stop touchin' me," Raph shook his arm away from Leonardo's touch. He quickly rubbed his cheeks and eyes for any remaining tears.

"Talk to me, Raph. I want to help you," Leo scooted himself so he was sitting next to Raphael, and not behind him on the bed. He looked at Raph's face. Raphael surprisingly looked back. He saw that his older brother really was concerned and he cared about him. Raph sighed before speaking.

"it was nothin', really. I just got kind of scared-"

"I'll say."

"Are you gonna listen to me or not?"

"I'm listening, Raph."

"Fine. It was just a dream, and I-"

"You had a nightmare?" Leo asked, hissing a smirk. He wanted to smirk at that because he never imagined his brother to be brought to tears from a dream.

"I neva said, nightmare, Fearless. It was just a dream gone bad. And it was horrible. Mikey, you, and Donnie were all... dead. A-And I couldn't do nuthin' to save ya."

Leo lost all of the amusement with Raph's dream. He felt so bad for him. Raphael fought the lump in his throat, and his watering eyes.

Leo embraced Raph when he saw that he was about to cry again. Raphael hugged him back.

"I'm sorry, Raph. I had no idea."

"Yeah. I know, Fearless."

Leo suddenly punched Raphael's arm.

"Ow! What was-"

"How come you couldn't tell me that in the first place?"

"Wha-? S-Sorry," Raph apologized, not knowing exactly what was his fault.

"I'll never leave you, little brother," Leonardo returned to caring for Raph. He placed a hand on his younger brother's arm.

"Thanks, Leo. But I don't know how you're gonna make sure of that."

"I promise. That was just a dream. Mikey, Donnie, and I aren't going anywhere any time soon."

"Geez, I'm starting to wish that dream was real."

Leo was glad that Raphael's personality wasn't completely gone. He smiled. Leo poked Raphael in his side. Raph jumped.

"Don't touch me, Fearless."

Leo chuckled, and poked him again.

"I said stop."

"Well, this is for wishing I was dead," Leo started tickling Raphael's sides. Raph screamed and started laughing against his will.

Leonardo was glad that Raph was laughing and not crying. Both were very rare sounds to come from the hot-head, but his laughter was more pleasurable.

"Leo! Get off! Ahahaha. Lemme go! Stahp it!" Raph pleaded through his laughter.

"Take back what you said, and I'll stop," Leo smiled at this playful way to cheer his brother up.

"Alright, alrihihight! I'm sorry. I take bahahaha-! Take back what I sahahaid!"

"There you go," Leo stopped tickling his poor younger brother. Raphael immediately stood up and clutched his sides.

"You play dirty, Fearless. You know that."

"When I need you to apologize, that's what happens."

"Yeah, yeah."

Raph sat back down on his bed. He grinned at Leo.

"I'm just glad that that's over," Raphael mumbled, concerning his nightmare.

"Yeah, they are rough. But just remember that nightmares aren't real."

"I know that."

The two brothers sat in silence for a while.

"Thanks, Leo. I really, uh, appreciate you tryin' ta help me out. You're a decent brother," Raphael put a hand on Leo's shoulder and showed him a small smile. Leo smiled back at Raph.

"No problem. I'm always here if you need anything."

Leonardo stood up and watched Raph get back into his bed. The red-masked turtle pulled the sheet over himself, and Leo fought the urge to tuck him in. He used to do that to his brother's when they were younger.

"G'night, Fearless," Raphael looked at Leo still in his room.

"Yeah. Sleep tight, Raph."

Leonardo exited his younger brother's room and went back to his. Raphael didn't have a nightmare like that ever again.

~The End~


End file.
